Brave Hearts Never Fear Death
by Y0ursTru1y
Summary: James&Lily had a nice friendship. He liked her but she had no idea. Snape&Lily had a nice friendship. He liked her but she had no idea. James wants that friendship to stop & in trying to do so, ruins not only Snapes, but his own with Lily. 5yrLast Breath.
1. Is that a warning or a threat?

Brave Hearts Never Fear Death

"I am sure you have all been told that your O.W.L.s are less than three weeks away, and I am sure you are all very tired to hear it in every class that is important to your future. And I am also sure that you all know that Potions is a very complex and important exam, written and presentation, so I am sure you all know that I will be explaining to everyone how _important_ it is that you get nothing less than Outstanding on both your written and presentation exam." Professor Slughorn drawled out as half the class rolled their eyes and groaned at the lecture.

However, one fifteen year old boy with unruly black hair, hazel eyes and a tan, Quidditch fit body, named James Potter, wasn't particularly paying attention to his potions master. He was busy gazing longingly at a certain red-headed girl. He watched as she placed her delicate fingers on a strand of hair and put it gently behind her ears all while listening intently to her professor like a responsible student. He liked the way she gathered her things minutes before the bell rang, still fixing her sparkling emerald eyes on the teacher to tell him that she was still paying attention. Her long black eyelashes fluttered up and down as she gazed forward, her rosy cheeks that gave her a glowing look upon her flawlessly creamy complexion rose with the small smile she gave to the professor as he had just complimented her last potions paper. The boy's longing concentration was broken when a long, skinny pale arm emerged into the air beside her.

"And as for those who plan on staying with me during your 6th and 7th year for Advanced and Honors Advanced Potions, I expect nothing less than a 95, mind you that's cutting it and an E on your exams. And in conclusion, err… yes, Severus?" Slughorn stared at Snape curiously.

"Sir, I was just wondering, a few months ago when you stated that in the exam we would have to prove our talents by making a potion of our choice, if one was allowed to concoct a difficult brew of Veritaserum, considering it is a rare choice of those examining for N.E.W.T.s, let alone O.W.L.s?" Severus Snape, a tall and rather stringy boy with black hair and cold, dark eyes asked nervously, occasionally glancing at the red-head beside him who was giving him encouraging smiles.

Slughorn frowned. "Well, the only problem I see is that the presentation exam is only an hour long and Veritaserum has to brew for a month for it to properly to take into consideration, so unless," He chuckled doubtingly, "You have already started on the potion, I highly doubt-"

"Yes, Sir, I have already begun the steps of brewing a proper Veritaserum potion and it has been brewing for a little over a week now. I planned on adding the final ingredients to it in the hour of the presentation exam." Snape looked for an approval from his professor. Slughorn watched his pupil for a few seconds in silence, contemplating an answer.

James Potter rolled his eyes and scoffed to his partner and friend, Peter Pettigrew, a short, mousy boy with light brown hair and watery blue eyes. "Oh Snivillus, you suck up, your greasy antics won't work this time." Peter chuckled. "There's no way-"

"Well, I see no problem in that!" Slughorn beamed. "What a gifted student, always thinking ahead. I believe I am right to say that I see outstanding marks your way, young man!"

Snape sighed in relief.

"Good job Severus, I told you your efforts would work!" The red-head girl praised Snape.

James' mouth dropped._ What?!_ He saw Snape smile slightly at her. "Thanks Lily." James overheard him mutter shyly. _WHAT?!_

"What's wrong James?" Peter asked, picking up his books and quill. The bell rang for lunch and the students started to gather their things. James gave the unnoticing Snape one last glare before picking up his bag and snarled, "Nothing."

"I expect great things from all of you! Study hard and choose your potion wisely!!" Slughorn called out as the students shuffled out of his classroom.

* * *

James stomped off with Peter towards the Great Hall without waiting for the rest of his friends, leaving Remus Lupin and Sirius Black to roll their eyes, shake their heads and sigh, as they knew what was coming.

"I just don't get it," James admitted aghast, taking a seat across the way looking straight at the Slytherin table. Peter sat on the other side of the table with Sirius while Remus sat next to James. "How can Evans even stand to say one nice thing to that greasy freak?"

Remus, a tall boy, who had handsome features of sandy blonde hair that lay straightened against his head that sometimes annoyed his stormy grey eyes, a clean teeth whitened smile and tan, fit physique that looked as though he worked hard outside during the summer, shook his head and grabbed a sandwich.

"I mean, c'mon, he's Snape! Sickly, slimy, Snape!" James huffed, glaring at the Slytherin table. Peter and Sirius laughed, whereas Remus added mustard and more meat to his sandwich, but hardly even looked at the complaining James.

"Well, Prongs," He was now grabbing the pumpkin juice pitcher. "Lily and Snape seem to have something common, whereas, you don't."

Truthful as it was, it was not something James liked to think about. He sniggered. "Right, Evans and Snape? Let's see, Snape is disgusting, he's foul, a maniac about the dark arts, greasy, sneaky, a suck up and did I mention disgustingly greasy?"

Remus rolled his eyes but grinned.

"And Evans," James sighed reflectively. "She is..." He trailed off because the woman he was fantasizing about just walked through the Great Doors. "Good afternoon Lily, how are you today?" His hand flew instantly to his hair, ruffling it a bit, and causing Lily's two friends to giggle.

Lily Evans stopped where the famous Marauders were currently eating lunch and smiled. James grinned flirtatiously. "I'm fine, thanks for asking." She replied. Lily looked them over once and then continued walking, waving goodbye as she passed.

James' eyes followed her as she walked, memorizing her every features. Her long auburn hair that either flowed straight or curly, however she was feeling that day, long and slender torso that connected with her neither large nor small breasts, her creamy, lightly tanned skin, dark eyelashes and of course her mesmerizing emerald eyes. In James' mind, she was every bit perfect.

He watched as she waved hello to some fellow Gryffindors and even, to his horror, Snape before sitting down to eat.

His concentration, once again, was broken from the soft chuckle of his best friend, Sirius.

"_What_, Padfoot?"

Sirius, who was terribly handsome for his own good, laughed again. He had tidy black hair, so unlike his best friend, crystal blue eyes, dark eyelashes, summery tan skin and had the body of a surfer. "Nothing," He said amused.

Sighing, James banged his head against the table. "What's wrong with me, never mind don't answer that." Sirius shut his mouth and grinned. "Urgh, she hardly even notices me, and here I am-"

"Practically licking her shoes?" Sirius sniggered suggestively. "Come off it mate, Lily Evans doesn't like you like that. She probably never will." His eyes lingered past Peter and another Gryffindor and raised his eyebrows. "Hmm, maybe not. Here she comes over now."

Lily walked straight towards them and James' heart sped up. She stood by the seat in between him and Remus, but instead of talking to James, Lily smiled at Remus. "Hey, we have a prefects meeting tonight at 7:30, we have a dance to plan for the end of the year."

"Oh, yeah?" Remus could feel the glare of James so he decided to wrap up the small talk. "Great, I'll be there. Thanks!"

Lily smiled again. "Okay, well bye then." She turned and walked back to her friends.

James' face dropped and Sirius laughed out loud. "Yep, sorry but she don't like you." He leaned over the table and patted his friend on the back.

James' head swiftly turned to Remus. "No, but she's awfully friendly with Remus." He glared towards his guilty looking friend who put his hands up in defense.

"Hey, just friends."

"Yeahh…" James' eyes strayed past Peter to the Slytherin table towards Snape, who he noticed kept glancing at the Gryffindor table. He followed his gaze and saw Lily, laughing happily with her friends. James eyes narrowed at Snape and a blast of jealousy coursed through him._ How __is it__ that Snivillus is so close to Lily? Well I don't like it, not one bit._

The lunch bell rang for class and he saw Snape heading towards the Great Doors.

"Excuse me boys," Remus, Sirius and Peter looked up at their friend in confusion. "I have something to take care of, so I'll meet you in Transfiguration."

Without waiting for a reply, James grabbed his bag and headed out for Snape.

Keeping Snape in sight, James walked a little behind him, waiting for the crowd to cease in the halls before catching up to him right before he walked to his common room. Grabbing him by the neck of his robes, James pulled Snape into an empty classroom.

Instantly Snape pulled out his wand, but Mr. Potter was quicker. "_Expelliarmus!"_ Snape's wand went flying out of his hand and landed beside some back desks. Grinning from ear to ear, James stepped over a chair that fell down from the force of the spell and aimed his wand at an angry but defenseless Snape.

"What do you want, Potter?" He spat.

"Hmm, is that anyway to talk to someone, Snivvy?" James jeered. Snape growled low, glaring daggers. "It's a little funny, don't you think?"

Snape didn't say anything, but James pressed on further, not once releasing his wand's aim at his Slytherin _friend._

"The way you stare at her, I get the feeling that you are quite obsessed with Miss Evans, my greasy friend." He grinned, loving the way Snape's nostrils flared out of anger and his pale cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "What, didn't think I'd notice? How could I not? Your constant glances at her can get catch quite an audience, it's rather disturbing to see, really, you being a slimy Slytherin and all."

Still, Snape stood in silence, but didn't take his eyes off James, who was now circling him like a hawk.

"Listen, I really don't want to be cruel or anything," His wand lightly jabbed into Snape's neck. "But I will, you can count on that."

"What do you want, Potter?" Snape snarled, not daring to threaten James in anyway.

"Stay away from Lily, Snape. She'll never go for you; she pities you, that's all. Its best you end whatever feelings you may have for her because they'll never commute into anything other than wasted fantasies. So be a good Snivillus and stray away." James mocked a sympathizing smile. "Now, now Snape, don't get upset about it. It's better this way." He took his wand off the Slytherin and rounded towards the door.

"And what about your feelings for her?"

James halted at the door. "My feelings for her… are none of your business." He opened the door but glanced once more at Snape before leaving. "Don't cause trouble Snape, you staying away from Lily will be better for everyone, just remember that."

Leaving Snape in that empty classroom and having the last word in made James feel at the top of the world. Now he could concentrate on Lily without having that slime ball causing disruption.

"James!" A girlish voice called out.

"Yeah?" Turning around, his heart sped up again at the site before him; Lily, obviously out of breath, running towards him.

"Where have you been? Transfiguration started ten minutes ago." Lily asked.

"Oh, I had to take care of a grease problem." James smiled innocently.

"Um okay, well Professor McGonagall told me to come find you and her exact words were, 'Evans, you find that trouble maker Potter before I do, because if he skives another one of my lessons, he will find the rest of the year's detentions quite tedious." She mimicked McGonagall's voice down to the pitch.

They laughed together.

"Okay, well then let's go," James grinned. As they walked together towards the Transfiguration classroom, James glanced back at the corridor where the empty classroom was where he had his little chat with Snape and chuckled inwardly. _Let's hope he knows __what's__ best for him._

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

-Hokay, so. This is obviously a Lily and James story. No tricks there, eh? Heh, yeah.

-It's a love story that progresses throughout until the very end. It may take a while.

-Brave Hearts Never Fear Death is about Lily and James from the end of their fifth year at Hogwarts till their very last breath. Parts in the story lead up to the end of it, so pay close attention. You'll notice that James is sort of a prick in this story, especially to Snape, but don't fret, he's only like that for a while. He grows up, just keep in mind that they are still immature teenagers.

-Be patient please. I am graduating from high school in less than a week, I have senior trips I have to go on, my family will be in town for quite a while and I also work, so updating will be a priority of mine, just not a top one.

-Reviews are nice, they motivate me. Ideas are helpful; I might just use them (I will credit). Constructive Criticism is only allowed to a certain emotional extent. If my feelings are hurt, I will warn you and if you hurt them again then your reviews will be deleted and I will no longer like you.

-If you have any questions, then just put them in the reviews and I will answer as many as I can.

VVV _Times are tragic and pain is real, deceit is too easy to conceal. But keep in mind, a tale is told, of two young lovers with Hearts of Gold. A power, in which no evil can embrace, runs through the veins in those they face. Two young lovers strong and bold, bear no evil with Hearts of Gold. A thought so chilling is hard to find, but it's the next great adventure to the well organized mind. Courage so true till their very last breath, these Brave Hearts will Never Fear Death. _VVV


	2. Come to Hogsmeade with Me?

Brave Hearts Never Fear Death

"Good evening Lily." Remus said as he caught up with her in the common room. Lily smiled back and walked with him towards the prefect meeting in Professor Flitwick's classroom.

Good evening to you too, Remus." Lily hummed slightly to herself as she walked casually down the corridor. "How have you been?"

"Oh I've been good, how about you?"

"You know, the usual."

"That's good," Remus bit his lip in hesitation, but continued anyway. "So Lily, you know James Potter right?"

She laughed. "Of course I know him, how could anyone not?"

Remus grinned. "Right. Um, well actually, I was thinking that maybe, it'd be nice to hang out with him once in a while, ya know, as friends?"

Lily stopped and eyed Remus suspiciously with a small grin on her lips. "Did Potter put you up to this Lupin?"

"Heh, what?" His hand went directly behind his head as if scratching it and denied that accusation. "No, of course not! I just, well- I mean, wouldn't it be nice to go out, I mean, hang out more?"

Lily pursed her lips and kept eyeing him suspiciously. "Maybe. I'll think about it. You can tell James that, I mean, if you like." She winked at him and kept walking.

Remus sighed in relief. "Okay."

During the whole prefect's meeting, Lily tried to attain her attention to the Head Boy and Girl but it was quite impossible since James Potter kept running through her mind.

_Should I hang out with him? I mean he does seem like a nice guy. It wouldn't hurt to get out more…_

"And so, in conclusion, Alice and I have agreed to keep the dance till one o'clock in the morning instead of the usual midnight. I think we have all decided that the dance will be the Summer Nights theme, right?"

_It's always nice to have more friends, so c'mon Lils, you'll be fine. Just agree to hang out with him sometime and maybe you'll find more out of him then just a boy in class. _Lily grinned at the thought._ He is attractive, undeniably gorgeous._ _Maybe, just maybe he could more than friend material._ That was it, she convinced herself.

"Meeting adjourned. You may all go back to your respective houses. Same time next week if you please, thank you prefects!"

Lily caught up with Remus outside the boy's dormitory stairs. "Hey Remus, go ahead and tell James that I'd love to hang out with him sometime, okay?"

Remus stared shocked at her. "Um, okay! Great!"

Lily smiled. "Well, then, okay. Good Night." She walked up her own set of stairs and into her room, hardly containing her excited grin.

* * *

The next morning, the Gryffindors noticed a bulletin posted up on the notice board, reminding all third years and up that had their permission slips signed that the last Hogsmeade trip was scheduled for the following Saturday.

Kharisma Loft, Lily's best friend who had long, pin-straight brown hair and stunning blue eyes, squealed in delight. "Lily, get over here and look at this!"

Lily had just positioned herself in a comfortable seat beside the window and a desk and currently was sucking on her quill, thinking of how to summarize the chapter on ancient curses, lazily answered out, "How about you save me the walk and just tell me."

Kharisma frowned at her studious friend and walked over to her. "Why do you do your homework days before its due?"

Lily looked up at her and smiled smartly. "Because when I finish _days before its due_, I don't have to worry about it last minute and have time do other things. If you were half as intelligent as me, you'd do the same thing, instead of stressing it the day before and getting detention for such dreadful work." She teased.

"Har, Har." Kharisma said sarcastically. "Well anyway, last Hogsmeade trip of the year is on Saturday and I for one, am very excited!"

Lily stopped looking at her best friend and continued on the conclusion of her summary. "Yeah, that's nice."

"And I for one will be getting my dress robes there for the end of the year ball."

"Uh huh."

"And I for one will be expecting you to do my hair and makeup for the dance."

"Right."

And I for one will be expecting you to dance the night away with me and then after make out with the hot twins from Hufflepuff, Davie and Darren, then jumping into bed with Remus Lupin."

"Sounds fun."

"LILY!!" Kharisma sighed out in exasperation. "You aren't even paying attention to me!"

Finishing the last sentence, she dropped the quill and stretched, laughing softly. "Sorry Kharis, but you know I know I wouldn't do any of those things, so trying to get something out of me with words like that won't get to me that easy anymore."

"But didn't you hear me about the last-"

Lily shook her hand at Kharisma. "Yeah, yeah I heard you. Last Hogsmeade trip of the year, this Saturday. I'm excited," Kharis gave Lily a look. "I am! Seriously! I also plan on buying a new dress there. Listen, I've got some interesting matters to discuss with you…"

Kharisma pushed her seat closer as Lily brushed the soft curls of her auburn hair out of her nervous green eyes. "Yes, m'dear?"

"Remus was talking to me last night while walking to the prefects meeting and-"

"OH MY GOSH!" Kharis gasped. "Don't tell me he asked you out!"

Lily shushed her friend and whispered harshly. "NO you idiot! Listen to me! Remus told me that he thinks that I should start hanging out with James-"

"OH MY GOSH!" she gasped again. "Not HOTTIE James POTTER!" three sixth year girls turned and looked over at Lily and Kharisma.

"Kharisma Jean Loft, if you gasp out anything again while I'm trying to talk to you seriously about this I will curse you in the face." Lily growled lightly as she made sure her hand was securely against Kharis' mouth. Kharis nodded apologetically.

"Right," she let her hand go. "He thinks I should start hanging out with James Potter."

Kharisma stared at Lily and didn't say anything.

"Well?"

"Can I talk now?"

"Oh shut up and tell me what you think!"

Kharis cleared her throat. "Well, Lily, I think Remus is right. James is definitely very popular, all the girls could tell you that, he's a great Quidditch player and I for one think he's a deliciously rebellious hunk."

"Yeahh, maybe I shouldn't hang out with him."

"Oh come on Lils, he sounds pretty decent. Yeah so he's had a few girlfriends, and yeah so he usually breaks up with them before it gets too serious, but honestly, it would be such a great experience. You never know, maybe you'll find him to be a really good friend." Kharis urged on.

"Yeah, well I figured I'd give it try for the friend sake," Lily said, desperately trying to get the thought of him as a womanizer out of her head. "I mean, I'm not there to like, get down his pants or anything, and I'm sure he's more of a gentleman than that. And as for his girlfriends, maybe they just weren't right for him…"

"Exactly. So what do you say, give it a try sometime?"

Lily smiled heartily at Kharisma. "Yeah, I think it'd be quite nice to know James Potter."

* * *

"She said _WHAT?_" James exclaimed in glee.

"Yeah mate, she said she'd love to hang out with you sometime." Remus grinned, putting away his homework that he had just finished.

"Aww, our little Jamesie-poo finally got the girl of his dreams." Sirius teased from the chair he was sitting in on two legs across from Peter. "I wonder how long it'll take for him to get her to second base."

"For being a fifteen year old, Padfoot, you are quite the perve." Remus said amusedly.

"I'm sixteen actually," Sirius put his arms behind his head proudly. "And yeah, well what can I say, the ladies love me."

"Right," Peter snorted. "Maybe his mom."

James and Remus laughed out loud.

Sirius glared. "If you knew my mother, Wormtail, you'd know how very wrong you are."

"Yeah, yeah, sorry." Peter mumbled, still grinning at his diss.

"Ahem, anyway." James changed the subject. "Before I head off to Quidditch practice, I think that the time has come for a devious prank on the Slytherins is in order."

At the word of 'prank', Sirius stood up and grinned, full aware of the new discussion. "Hear, hear. It's been too long."

"Too long? You just tied dungbombs to Goyle's shoelaces so that when he got up in history of magic, he pulled the string, causing the whole Slytherin side to smell so bad that Bellatrix started to gag nonstop." Remus said incredulously.

Sirius looked up dreamily and sighed. "I know, it was awesome"

Peter chuckled. "It was funny."

Remus grinned. "Oh I'm not denying it, considering I distracted Binns, but still, you pulled that prank two days ago."

James slammed his hand down on his nightstand. "Exactly! Two days, too long! New prank. This Saturday is Hogsmeade trip, I say before I meet Lily in the Three Broomsticks, we buy some products at Zonko's."

"Yeah, that sounds good." Peter said.

"Yes! We're gonna play a prank! We're gonna play a prank! Those stupid Slytherins deserve what's coming for them! Mwarhaha." Sirius did a little jig.

"Sounds fun." Remus said as he made his bed. "Wait what?" He turned around and looked at James confused.

"We're going to go to Zonko's and buy prank stuff to pull on the Slytherins." Sirius repeated for James. "C'mon Moony, where's your head?"

"No, before that." Remus furrowed his brows.

"This Saturday is Hogsmeade?"

"No Padfoot, you imbecile, just let James talk." Remus laughed.

"Well, fine. Be that way." Sirius crossed his arms and pretended to be mad.

"The part about Lily?"

"Yeah, you already asked her?"

James grinned. "Nope, not yet, but I plan on doing it tonight. She'll say yes, they always do."

"Conceited." Peter coughed.

"Not conceited, just knowing." James sniggered.

"Yeah, considering just yesterday you said she hardly noticed you and that you-" Remus started.

"Practically lick her shoes." Sirius finished.

"Well now I know she digs me, so there's no point in denying that she thinks I'm devilishly handsome."

"Stuck-up." Peter sneezed.

They all laughed.

"Well I'll see you ladies later." Sirius said. "I'm mucho starving and I'm going down to eat some el breakfasto."

"Yeah me too." Peter got up.

"Might as well." Remus followed.

"I'll meet you down there; I'm going to finish something." James called out as Remus shut the door behind him. Taking out a thick parchment letter, he opened it. It had a handsome Ministry of Magic candle-wax stamp on it and it was addressed to Mr. James H Potter.

_So this is what classes I have to take next year to advance into Auror Training. I have to get high OWLs this year and high NEWTs the year after next, following a written exam then a few character and aptitude tests in front of some high ranking Ministry members? Jeez…..well, if it's what I want to be, then so __be__ it._

James scribbled a check on the _'I'd like to receive more information on Aurors and their testing, permission for the acceptance investigation and sign me up for the test the day after graduation.'_ And then sealed it up.

Taking the letter with him, he walked down the stairs into the empty common room, which he thought was empty until he bumped into a beauty that sped his heart up.

"Lily," James said, heart pounding in his ears.

"Hi James." Lily replied, smiling. "Heading to breakfast?"

He noticed she too had a letter in her hand. His cockiness that he had in his room with his friends vanished instantly and instincts took over as a gentleman. "I'm actually heading to the Owlery. I noticed that you have a letter in your hand, care to join me on the walk?" He gave her a charming smile.

Lily grinned and accepted. They walked up to the Owlery together and laughed and chatted like they had been great friends for the longest of time.

"So I've noticed that the letter you're holding is for the Ministry, dare I ask what it's for?" Lily asked politely.

James looked at his letter and chuckled. "Ah, nothing really. The Ministry sent the usual, 'where do you want to go after school and what do you want to achieve in life?' letter and I'm just replying." Clearing his throat because they had just entered the tower where the owls were, James asked her the same thing. "And what about yours? No story if it's too personal, I mean."

Lily laughed softly and stared into his hazel eyes. _He really is attractive. _"Actually it's the same thing, I'm replying back also. What is it that you want to do?"

Tying her letter for her, James set her owl off before attending to his. "Auror sounds kind of interesting if you ask me."

"Wow, that is quite a career, you sure you're up for it?" Lily teased, softly knocking him on the shoulder.

A pleasurable shock went through him at the touch and he shuddered involuntarily. "Heh, of course. Anything I can do to help against the dark wizards out there, especially Voldemort."

Lily stared at him in shock. "Wow."

James stared back into her emerald eyes, looking for traces of fear after hearing him say the most feared name of their time. "What?" He whispered.

"I can't believe you said his name."

"Oh come on, you're really afraid to say his name? That is so like people, I don't get it, if you're scared of a simple name, then how are you ever going to overcome the fear of the real thing?"

Placing her hands on her hips, clearly offended, she bit back defensively. "Whoever said I was afraid to say his name? If you must know, I have been able to say Voldemort's name since he came out with his true colors in my first year."

"Oh sorry." James said, now extremely embarrassed for accusing her.

"It's okay," She uttered softly. "I don't blame you, there are plenty of pretty pathetic people out there that are too afraid to step up and fight him back."

"Yeah…" James started to walk back with her, hating the fact that they were now so close to the Great Doors where breakfast was. "Hey Lily, what do you want to do?"

"Huh? Oh well, I've asked information on…Unspeakables."

James looked outright shocked. That was the name for people involved with the very top secret Department of Mysteries. She, Lily Evans, had to be the first person to ever say she wanted to join something that no one really knew about.

"Wow, that's a big wow."

"Incredible huh?" Lily said proudly. "I really am interested in it, I heard there were plenty of things in the Department of Mysteries about ancient curses and things that the dark wizards shouldn't ever get a hold of or else it'd cause destruction."

"That's insane. No wonder it's so secretive. I'm sure you'd be great as an Unspeakable." James complimented.

"Thanks." She blushed. They entered the doors and walked toward the Gryffindor table.

"Well James, it's been fun hanging out with you…"

"How about doing it again sometime, well other than in class?" James watched as she licked her lips and then grinned.

"Yeah, how so?"

Plucking up some courage, he came out and said it. "Come to Hogsmeade with me. It'll be fun to hang out with you in new scenery."

Lily looked up at the ceiling as if she were contemplating on going then after a few seconds of thinking, nodded. "Okay, that sounds like fun."

"Yeah?" James tried not to sound too excited, even though his stomach was doing flips. "Great, I'll meet you at the Three Broomsticks at 1:15?"

"Perfect."

James and Lily said their goodbyes and went their separate ways, inwardly jumping with joy.

VVVVVVVVVVVVV

-Reviews please.

-the one that reviewed first, I Thank you. All nice reviews are awesome and I certainly like you. Keep reviewing

-ENJOY-

VVV _Times are tragic and pain is real, deceit is easy to conceal. But keep in mind, a tale is told, of two young lovers with Hearts of Gold. A power, in which no evil can embrace, runs through the veins in those they face. Two young lovers so strong and bold, bear no evil with Hearts of Gold. A thought so chilling is hard to find, but it's the next great adventure to the well organized mind. Courage so true till their very last breath, these Brave Hearts will Never Fear Death. _VVV


	3. Gorilla Kisses?

Brave Hearts Never Fear Death

The week passed fairly fast for Lily who was now getting pretty excited about her date with James Potter. Her friend Kharisma was ecstatic and the other Gryffindor girls were quite jealous.

"Yeah, that's right! My friend Lily has a date with hottie James Potter!" Kharis would say to the passing girls giving jealous glares towards the embarrassed Lily.

Another person Lily noticed, considering he was her potion's partner, wasn't exactly happy this week was Snape. He seemed to keep his head down low and refused to make eye contact with her and only talked to her when it had something to do with the subject of study.

Lily however wasn't going to let her friend ignore her like that.

"Severus, are you okay?" She asked him the day before the Hogsmeade trip.

Snape continued to stare intently at his cauldron and replied softly with only a slight rise of his lips. "I'm fine."

She sighed. "Okay, just making sure because you hardly talked to me at all this week and I was just wondering if I did anything to make you mad at me."

She saw his face soften slightly but he still didn't look at her. "I'm not mad at you Lily, I have no reason to. You're not to blame." Snape cast a slight glare over at James who was watching them with a cocky grin.

"Well, okay then. As long as you're not mad…" Lily said with a smile on her face, obviously not catching the look from James to Snape.

"Snape is such a git." James chuckled to Peter after turning away from the scowling Snape.

"Yep, sure is." Peter said, carefully adding lacewig flies to his cauldron.

"Students, it's about time to pack up your things and carefully store your cauldrons in the cupboards for tomorrow's lesson as we are just going to continue what we were doing today." Slughorn said, cleaning up around his desk.

"Oh Severus, here let me help you!" James heard Lily exclaim. Turning around he laughed out loud with Peter and Sirius. Snape had just spilled the potion he was working on all over the front of his clothes and was turning a bright shade of pink on his pasty white cheeks.

"Wow, Snape! Careful there!" Sirius called out as Snape was trying to wipe the thick potion of his neck in haste as it was clumping up and creating painful blisters.

Snape turned and glared at the Marauders, completely embarrassed.

"Reparo!" Lily yelled. The cauldron that had been broken from the fall had repaired itself and the potion residing in it was instantly filled within in from Slughorn's helping wand.

"Miss Evans, could you please escort Mr. Snape to the hospital wing? I'm sure if those blisters stay on much longer, they might scar after they burst."

Lily looked at Snape sympathetically. "Of course, c'mon Severus." Taking his arm, she led him towards the door. James, who was laughing severely decided to have one more go at Snape, since it was his jinx that had caused Snape to get butterfingers.

Whispering his curse, he slyly pointed his wand once more at Snape's feet, causing the already extremely embarrassed Snape to trip over himself and catch himself painfully hard on the side of the door frame. The classroom exploded into laughter once more.

Snape threw an icy glare at James who raised his eyebrow and grinned.

"C'mon Severus, let's go." Lily said soothingly, still not catching on to James' torture and leading him out.

"Was that necessary?" Remus sighed at James.

"Isn't it always?" Sirius said in between fits of laughter.

Remus gave them a look.

"Oh c'mon Moony, stop sticking up for that freak just because you're a prefect. Let loose and have some fun." Sirius said.

"Yeah, okay but why did you have a go a second time?"

James looked up as if thinking. "Let's just say it was for him trying to eavesdrop on our recent plan to get to the Shrieking Shack with you next week."

Remus rolled his eyes and grabbed his bag. "Alright, you've convinced me. Let's go."

* * *

Saturday came and everyone who was going to Hogsmeade (which was everyone who was able considering it was the last one of the year) had been ready and waiting down by the Great Doors.

Lily and Kharisma had planned on getting their new dress robes for the ball that was on the following Saturday and possibly shopping for new accessories before Lily headed for the Three Broomsticks at 1:15 for her date with James.

Walking down the street, Kharis had bought Lily and herself an ice cream cone and were happily eating them while window shopping.

"Ooh, Lils look at that! I bet Petunia would love that!" Kharis teased, pointing at the very bright store of Pasties Pink Poka which had a window display of very prim and proper dresses.

Lily snorted, "Yeah and I'm sure Vernon would fit in those." Pointing to a mannequin wearing a _very_ large pin striped suit of pink and emerald.

"What gits they are, huh?" Kharis said, licking up the melting ice cream.

"Yeah, I guess. Petunia can be, for the lack of a better word, helpful I suppose in times of need, but considering there isn't much time like that, yeah, gits."

"LILIAN EVANS!"

Lily and Kharis turned at the shout and came face to face with a short and blonde haired girl in their year. Kharis rolled her eyes at the girl and continued licking her ice cream cone as if the girl didn't matter one bit.

"Yeah?" Lily replied.

"It is 12:45 and I heard that at precisely 1:15 you are supposed to meet up with James Potter at the Three Broomsticks, am I right or am I right?"

"Err.." Lily said, a bit taken back by the sudden demand and greeting. Kharis finished off her cone and helped her friend out a bit.

"What's it to you Jorkins?"

Bertha Jorkins turned her curious eyes over to Kharis and sneered. "I don't think I was talking to you now was I?"

"No but I'm talking to you, so once again, what's it to you?" Kharis glared.

Lily looked between her friend and Bertha uncomfortably. Not wanting to start anything, she lightly pushed Kharis prominent tough posture down a bit.

"It's okay Kharis, I don't mind." She muttered, now facing Bertha. Kharis rolled her eyes as Bertha smirked and rotated her greedy eyes to Lily again.

"Well? Is it true or is it not?"

Sighing, Lily answered. "Yeah, it's true. Nothing too wish-washy about it though Bertha, so don't go shouting to the nearest person that it's like a romantic date or something or that we are going to get eloped cause we're not. Just going as friends who want to know each other better, okay?"

Bertha folded her arms and frowned. "Like I'd say something like that."

"Of course not." Kharis said in a very sugary, sarcastic voice.

"Well, if that's all," Lily grabbed Kharis by the arm and turned around to walk away. "We better get going."

"Alright Lily! But if anything happens, just be sure to know that I'll find out! HAVE A GRAND TIME!" Bertha shouted as the two girls walked away.

"Ick, I seriously can't stand her." Kharis bunched up her nose in disgust.

Lily laughed out loud. "I can't either that much but she does have a knack for some seriously good story telling. Like when she told us when Frank Longbottom and Alice Short were caught making out in the Prefect bathroom!"

Kharis grinned. "Yeah, that was funny! Them of all people; definitely didn't expect that. Hey did you hear that Frank was accepted to take his test in two weeks?"

Lily stopped short in her tracks and her jaw dropped. "He really got accepted for the Auror Test? That's like near impossible!"

Kharis' eyes widened. "I know huh? But then again he's like great at everything he does, ya know."

Lily nodded and kept walking. "Yeah I know, so I guess it wasn't that unexpected. That's really great though. It's sad that it's his and Alice's last year here though, they were really nice as Head Boy and Girl."

"Yeah, cool, but also! I totally forgot! Did you know they got engaged?"

"WHAT?" Lily exclaimed happily.

"Yeah!" Kharis squealed. "He asked her on her 18th birthday last week! They said they'd plan their wedding after he passes the Auror Test."

"Which he will." Lily added, smiling. "Wait, how do you know all this?"

"Well," She took a deep breath. "Frank told Edgar Bones who told Fabian Prewett who told his brother Gidgeon who told their sister Molly who told Bill Weasley who told Emmeline Vance who told Marlene McKinnon who told Sturgis Podmore who told Nearly Headless Nick who told Remus Lupin who told Sirius Black who told me and James Potter and Arabella Figg."

"Wow," Lily sniggered. "You're just as bad as Bertha."

"Am not." Kharis stamped her foot. "Oh my gosh Lily, you better hurry! It's already 1:05 and we are way at the other end of the Three Broomsticks!"

"Nice," Lily muttered. "Late on my first date." And with that she took off in a sprint towards the beginning of Hogsmeade.

* * *

James Potter walked into the Three Broomsticks washed, shaven, dressed nicely and smelled like a smidge of cologne. He strode up to the counter confidently, running a hand through his messy yet striking hair and ordering two butterbeers. The trainee bartender smiled warmly.

"Well if it isn't Mr. James Potter."

"Hi there Miss Rosmerta, how are you?" James asked politely with a small tinge of flirt in his voice. Rosmerta laughed softly.

"I'm fine. But I must ask where your partner in crime is, Mr. Black?"

James smirked, paying for the drinks. "He's probably off chasing Petra Dearborn, though I don't think her older brother, Caradoc would highly approve of that."

"No, probably not." She said grinning, and then eyed him curiously. "Are you perhaps, on a date, James? Because if you are, you better not hurt this one, I'm warning you. I'm sure you are making a list of girls that could join up and cause some serious bodily harm on you one day."

James mocked hurt. "Well, Miss Rosmerta!" He playfully put a hand to his heart. "That just pains me that you'd accuse such a thing! I would never intentionally hurt any woman."

Rosmerta smirked, handing him the two butterbeers. "Okay, but I'm still warning you, be careful."

"Yeah, yeah." He laughed, grabbing the drinks. The door bell rang letting everyone know that someone had just walked in. Turning around, he saw her. "Okay well better go."

Rosmerta nodded. "You've hooked a beauty. Have fun."

"Thanks, bye."

James walked over to her and smiled as she smiled back when she saw him. He noticed that her cheeks were a bit pink, as if she were running and the wind slightly nipped at her, and her auburn hair was in long loose curls today.

"I'm sorry I'm a bit late. Didn't know it was one so fast." Lily apologized, following him to a table.

"It's okay; I just barely got here too." James said, helping her to a seat before taking his.

When James sat down, he and Lily just looked at each other and it took a whole minute before either of them said something.

"I-"

"So-"

They stopped and blushed slightly, a little embarrassed that they talked at the same time.

"I'm sorry." They said in unison.

Lily laughed and James grinned.

"You go first." Lily giggled.

James chuckled and nodded, loving everything about her cheerful personality. Not even two seconds into their date they already got embarrassed.

"Well, that was eventful." James said.

"Yeahh." Lily replied, putting a curl behind her ear.

They had a wonderful time talking about everything from their favorite subjects at school to their families and what their favorite bugs were. Everything seemed to flow nicely with them and no awkward silences happened between them anymore. Lily and James had been there for over four hours before they realized that they had to get back to school because the sun was setting.

It was kind of chilly outside when they left the Three Broomsticks so James draped his cloak over Lily's shoulders and continued walking the route to Hogwarts. Lily smiled and said thanks as she hugged it close to her.

"So Lily, you said you wanted to become an Unspeakable right?"

"That's right, and you said an Auror right?"

"Correct." He said as they started passing the shifty part of Hogsmeade, a few buildings that sold everything from cursed handbags to ancient dark artifacts and peculiar potions.

"Hey did you know that Frank Longbottom was accepted to take his test?"

"Yeah I did, that's crazy huh? Did you know he got engaged to Alice Short?"

Lily laughed. "Yep, found out today. Kharis told me."

"That's funny. Sirius told me." James grinned. He watched as her emerald eyes sparkled from the ray of dusk light.

"So do you think you'll get accepted for the Auror Test?" Lily asked, kicking a pebble along the path.

"Maybe. Professor McGonagall said that it was highly doubtful because I don't have the well behaved records or the Status of a Prefect or Head Boy."

"Way to shoot your dreams down huh?" She snickered.

"Yeah, seriously." James rolled his eyes. "But I dunno, I talked to Dumbledore and he said that I had the right state of mind for an Auror and that he'd put in a good word."

"Dumbledore has got to be the greatest man ever." Lily said. "So why do you want to be an Auror?"

"Well," James started. "I like the idea of adventure and the adrenaline rush you'd get for taking care of the idiotic maniacs we have. I'd like to start on Voldemort and those nasty Death Eaters he's racked up and some other slimy people."

As Lily and James reached another shady building that sold nothing but dark potions that was restricted to enter for 15 year olds and down, Severus Snape exited it. James immediately drew his wand but hid it from view from the smiling Lily. _Speaking of slimy people…_

"Hi Severus." She greeted.

Snape watched James give his cocky smirk as if daring him to say anything back and then his eyes lingered slightly to the veiled wand that pointed directly at him from the side of his jeans. He merely glanced at Lily but didn't say anything.

James, however, found it highly amusing that Snape was trapped between being rude to Lily Evans, the girl he probably only ever admired and being jinxed in front of her to quite an embarrassing altitude for replying back politely.

"Snape, what are you doing in that _very unusual dark-product-selling_ store and aren't you still fifteen?"

Snape glared furiously at James, trying hard to bite back the feeling of turning his wand on him. He had turned sixteen in January but the fact that he had just exited out of a dodgy dark store was very suspicious and even Snape knew that.

"What's wrong Severus?" Lily asked a bit cautious. She had got the feeling that something was bothering him. She looked at James who she thought might be making Snape feel this way, but he looked like he wasn't doing anything, just there as an innocent bystander.

Snape tore his eyes away from his and James glaring match and looked at Lily. She noticed that he opened his mouth to say something, but closed it in a blink of an eye. Instead he jammed his hands inside his pocket and stepped around them, walking away without a word.

"That was weird." Lily whispered when James steered her back on the right path to Hogwarts. "I wonder why he didn't say anything. He's always been so nice to me, a bit shy sure, but never ignored me."

"Don't worry about it. He is a bit _unusual_." James stated matter-of-factly.

Lily turned on him. "Don't say that! There is nothing wrong with him. He's a really nice guy when you get to know him. He's a lot different when it's a one on one talk with him."

"I'll take you word for it." James muttered.

"Right." She said a bit stiffly.

James sighed. "Oh Lily, don't let him ruin this perfect day so far. I don't want to fight with you about Snape, please?"

"Alright, I'm sorry. I just don't know what's gotten into him lately."

"No idea." James replied.

They had finally reached the Gryffindor common room and it was time for their day date to end. Lily walked up one step of the stairs to the girl's dormitories and turned and looked at James, despite the step difference was eye level to her.

"I had great fun today with you, James." Lily smiled, staring into his hazel eyes.

James smiled back. "And I, you." He moved in a little closer. "We should definitely do this again."

"That's a definite possibility." She teased. She could see the dark browns spots in his eyes he was so close.

"Is that so?" He could see the moistness on her lips.

"Well, goodnight James." Lily turned her head and kissed him gently on the cheek. She twisted away from him, threw her long curls over her shoulder and grinned back at him teasingly before walking up the steps to the dormitories.

James stood there, a little unsure that Lily Evans had just teased him and kissed him on the cheek.

"_I had great fun today with you Jamesie-poo! Let's do it again Jamesie-poo! Wanna make out, err, a kiss on the cheek Jamesie-poo?!"_ A high pitched teasing voice came from behind him. James turned and rolled his eyes, walking towards the now cackling Marauders.

"Har, Har. Very funny." He sneered at his best friends, especially Sirius, as it was him who made the voice.

"Well, it certainly was." Remus snorted, holding his pained side from trying to hide his laughter behind the couch as they spied.

"How long have you been there, huh?" James growled a little irked.

"From when you first walked in mate, saw the_ whole_ thing." Peter snickered, leaning on the back of the couch.

"Some friends you are, right?"

"Aw, c'mon Prongs, it was all in good fun," Sirius said, trying desperately to hold in his sniggers. "But you know," A little air escaped from his lips, "I don't think," Remus turned his head to hide his laughing, "you should ever," Peter grabbed a pillow and put it over his face, shaking uncontrollably from fits of amusement, "Wash that cheek again." Sirius erupted in laughter and the rest of the Marauders couldn't hide it any longer.

James stared at all his laughing buddies and folded his arms, clearly not amused. Sirius was now on all fours pounding the ground with one hand and holding his side with the other.

"Give it a rest will ya?"

"Ha ha hah aha!" Sirius calmed down and wiped a tear from his eyes. "Sorry. I'm better now."

James glared. "Right. Well I'm going to bed because I don't think I want to see any gorillas right now."

"Hey I heard," Sirius called out as James started walking up the steps to his dormitory. "That gorilla's get kisses too, but I don't think they get any on the cheeks!" He laughed out loud again and mocked kissing on the cheek with Peter.

They all laughed out again when James gave them the finger without turning around before shutting the door to his room.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

-More reviews please..please..please. thank you for the two reviews so far though.

-ENJOY

VVV _Times are tragic and pain is real, deceit is easy to conceal. But keep in mind, a tale is told, of two young lovers with Hearts of Gold. A power, in which no evil can embrace, runs through the veins in those they face. Two young lovers so strong and bold, bear no evil with Hearts of Gold. A thought so chilling is hard to find, but it's the next great adventure to the well organized mind. Courage so true till their very last breath, these Brave Hearts will __Never__ Fear Death. _VVV


	4. Snape got revenge and Lily hates you?

Brave Hearts Never Fear Death

Within a few short days, news had spread through Hogwarts that lovable Lily Evans had a single date with handsome James Potter and neither was denying it. It was quite displeasing to some boys and girls that had their little crushes on the Prefect and Prankster and they certainly were going to get to the very bottom of the disputed relationship.

"Lily, why James Potter? He isn't really your type, right?" A seventh year male Ravenclaw asked.

Lily raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Since when does anyone have to have a certain type? But beside the point, it was only one date, so if Bertha Jorkins told you that we're an official item, please don't listen to her."

"But-"

Kharis usually took over from here. She stood in front of the Ravenclaw with a hand on his chest and said with a sardonic smile, "I believe that was the end your questions. Thanks."

While Lily simply shook off the intruding questions and Kharis brutally threatened anyone who was bothering her, James, however, was singing a different tune. He found it entertainingly enough to brag about his date whenever Snape was around.

"Yeah, that's right; I'm going to ask Lily to the ball, so no one get any ideas." He laughed with some fellow Gryffindors, but cast a grin over at Snape who's mouth thinned and glared right back.

"James, is it true that you hit it the first time?" An eager third year boy from Gryffindor asked.

James guffawed. "Of course not. I would never spoil innocent blood on the first date, as they say, 'third time's the charm'."

Peter sniggered and Sirius rolled his eyebrows comically at the reply, knowing full well that his best friend had innocent blood himself. Remus however glowered at James, sometimes shaking his head in disbelief, desperately wanting his ears to deceive him of the cockiness in his friend's choice of words.

"You, my friend, are an idiot." Sirius said as they walked away from the awe-struck third year.

James chuckled. "Aww, just having some fun."

"Fun that's going to land you in a _lot_ of trouble if Lily ever found out." Remus stated truthfully.

Shrugging his shoulders, James made an uncaring look. "Like she ever will, it's not like any of the other guys have the guts to ask her about it."

"Why do you say it anyway?" Peter asked.

"Why, you ask?" _Yes James, why do you say such stupid stuff? _James put a friendly arm around Peter's shoulders and moved his hand out as if showing him wonders before them. "Because it's fun." _Because you're an idiot..._ He thought. "Plus it's quite interesting when you know Snape is only inches from you hearing everything you say." He laughed out.

"You're still an idiot." Sirius chuckled. "But the latter part is convincing enough."

Remus wasn't convinced. "Lily's a good girl, James, and I very well think that you'd be nice together, so watch out."

James, Sirius and Peter stopped and looked at the scowling Remus. "What's gotten into you, Moony?"

"Nothing." He said, folding his arms.

"Alright, alright. I'll be more careful." James said.

Remus gave him a look.

"Alright! I won't say anything anymore, jeez!"

Remus gave James one last look, turned around and walked a head. Peter shrugged his shoulders at the two remaining boys and headed up after Remus. Sirius and James exchanged perplexed looks but kept walking.

* * *

A day before the long awaited end of the year ball, James was heard chatting away to some sixth years who had asked him about his date with Lily, clearly breaking his word to Remus.

"So have you asked her to the ball yet?" A tall curly haired boy asked.

James, who was leaning against the wall in a casual way, shook his head. "Naw, not yet. I plan on doing it tonight. I'm betting she's been waiting all week for me to ask her."

The sixth years sniggered.

Looking up and to his utmost satisfaction, James started to talk a bit louder as Snape was walking by with his eyes on his feet. "I've been quite lucky though, nothing _slimy or greasy_ has been in my way of handling her."

He saw Snape's eyes become slits from the intense glaring he was doing to his walking feet.

"So tell me about the date, James. What did you guys do? Anything interesting?" The other sixth year, a tall and lean boy with platinum blonde hair, asked.

James grinned. "Well actually, now that you mention it…" He heard Snape round the corner and inwardly laughed with delight of making him really angry.

As Snape rounded the corner and was finally away from James, he snarled. "Cocky wart."

"Hi Severus."

Looking up from his feet he saw Lily Evans.

Lily was holding what appeared to be a cloak and had a bright smile on her face. "I said, Hi Severus."

"Hi." He muttered.

"How are you doing?" She asked, trying desperately to make small talk with him.

"Ok."

She frowned. "Hey, did I do something wrong?"

Snape looked into her emerald eyes for the first time in a while. "What?"

"I mean, did I do something to offend you?" She really felt bad that he was ignoring her for the past week.

"No." He trailed off.

"Oh." Lily looked down; perhaps this was all she was going to get from him.

"I'm sorry."

Lily looked up, completely shocked. "Huh?"

"I'm sorry for ignoring you in Hogsmeade and…for not really talking to you in class."

Snape was apologizing. _Wow._ "Oh, um, it's okay Severus. Really." Lily replied, smiling warmly.

There, he had done it. He apologized to her without James or those stupid Marauders there to jinx him into jelly.

"Hey have you seen James Potter?" She asked.

Snape inwardly growled and looked up at the ceiling in annoyance. _Of course, Potter…_

"I mean I have his cloak and wanted to return it to him. I've been quite busy preparing this end of the year ball and all, so now I have free time and well yeah… so have you seen him?"

"Right."

"It's okay if you haven't, I'll just perhaps give it to one of his friends." Lily said, completely missing the new look on Snape's face.

"Actually," He said, turning around to look at the corner to the next corridor. "I just passed him on my way down here. Since you're going that way, mind if you come and see the brewing Veritaserum with me?"

Lily nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! How's it coming?"

They walked back down the hallway making small talk.

"It's coming along fine, just added a dragon scale to it, so hopefully if all's well, it should be turning the pearl shade it's supposed to be in its final week before turning clear." He said quietly.

"That's wonderful." She said brightly.

They rounded the corner and faced James' back, who was completely unaware that they were behind him. He kept chatting along freely and animatedly with his arms to the sixth years.

Lily stopped dead and her faced dropped as she heard what James was talking about. Snape smirked wickedly.

"Her lips, oh Lily's lips were warm and oh so welcoming; of course were going to the ball together, she'll say yes, I've never been turned down." _Man, these suckers are just eating up everything…_ James laughed to himself. Noticing that the boys had stopped looking at him, he frowned and turned around to see what had caught their attention.

His heart sank.

Lily's heart, however, shattered.

"Lily, I-" His eyes got wide and he quickly straightened his carefree posture up from the wall.

"Save it, Potter." She glared, her words strained as if she were on the verge of tears.

"No, seriously I-"

"I said _**save it!!**_" Lily shouted, throwing the cloak angrily to the side and out of her arms allowing Snape to catch it easily for her.

"What's going on here?" Sirius asked, walking up beside the sixth years with a curious but alarmed expression.

"Um, I think James is in trouble." The curly haired boy whispered from the side of his mouth. Sirius went beside his best friend and could feel the heat of embarrassment protruding from him.

"I can't believe you! You are possibly the most arrogant person I've ever met!" Her face pinked from anger and humiliation of being talked about in such a misrepresented way.

Sirius' stomach dropped and instantly groaned. His friend must have gone too far. James looked horrified.

"One date and already you are blabbing to random people about stupid lies! My god, boys like you are dumb a dozen!" She turned and glared at the sixth years that looked shamefully guilty. "And you! You believe everything that came out of his conceited mouth, didn't you! ARGH!" She turned back to James, her eyes shining bright with fury. "I thought you were a good guy,"

"I am!" James pleaded, but Lily just talked over him.

"I don't remember you asking me to the ball,"

"Well, will you?" James asked rapidly. "I really would like to go with you!" His eyes diverted to Snape's smirk.

Lily laughed unbelievingly. "Of course not, I've already said yes to someone." She said simply.

James snapped his eyes away from Snape. "Who?" He demanded. Sirius just watched the scene before him, half of him was amazingly terrified that Lily Evans could produce this much rage and the other half was clearly amused.

"Ehh, probably not the best approach mate," Sirius muttered to his friend, but James ignored him and urged on.

"Who are you going with?"

"That," Lily spat venomously. "Is none of your bloody business."

_Ouch…_ James thought.

"I seriously can't believe you, Potter," She dropped her voice, eyes brimming with unshed tears. "And I actually _liked_ you." Lily tugged on Snape's robes, walking past the saddened James and shocked Sirius. "C'mon Severus, let's go see what you wanted to show me." And with that, she walked away.

Snape stayed long enough, however, to sneer at the ashamed and angry James. "Smooth Potter, very smooth." He threw the cloak in James' face, gave the livid Sirius a haughty grin and caught up with Lily.

James snatched the cloak off his head and stared after Lily and Snape. His face was patched with furious and embarrassed shades of pink. "It's on."

Sirius looked at his best friend. "What?"

James looked back at his partner in crime with a glimmer in his eye. "I said, I declare war. Snape's a dead man walking."

Sirius laughed. "C'mon James, let's go to the kitchens."

* * *

"_I told you to knock it off! And now you've gone and chased Lily away, you prat! __Why'd you have to go and open you're fat mouth?!"_

James rolled his eyes and twirled in a stool that resided in the kitchens. If it was up to him, he'd rather not have told Remus or Peter about the situation with Lily, but stupid Sirius had blabbed right away when they encountered the boys.

"_Did you really think you'd get away with such disgusting and disrespectful words? Honestly, Prongs, did you get anything in return that you liked before she found out?_"Remus was walking back in forth, the Hogwarts house-elves following him, carrying trays of cakes.

"You're worst than my mother, Moony." He muttered. "I know I was stupid. I wish I could go back and fix it-"

"But you _can't, you idiot,_" Remus threw a small cake in his direction.

Sirius laughed when it didn't even faze James. Remus' strong point wasn't exactly direct aim.

"Argh!" James' put his head in his hands and bent to his knees, occasionally pulling on his hair. "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid! What's wrong with me?"

Sirius opened his mouth.

"Don't answer that."

Sirius closed his mouth.

"I mean, she said she liked me!" James said, clearly distressed.

"Emphasis on the word _like-d._She _like-duh_ you. Git." Remus glared in James' direction from the opposite wall.

"Fy do oo coh so uch, oony?" Peter asked with his mouth entirely stuffed with éclairs.

"What?"

He swallowed. "Why do you care so much?"

"It's because I know Lily and I know that stupid idiot." Remus pointed at the now head banging against the wall James. "She's a really bright and intelligent girl and doesn't deserve to be hurt and this imbecile is clearly in love with her. He just needs to learn to shut his trap once in a while."

"I see."

"But whatever, I'm over it. Clearly you're not going to listen to me, or else you'd still have somewhat of a friendship with her, so fine, go ahead, be a stupid prat."

Sirius chuckled. "Hmm, I wonder what Snape's up to right now."

James' head snapped up and he looked furious. "Oh yeah, that slimy dung-head."

"Yeah, that one, who threw the cloak in your face and ran off with your woman."

"Shut up, Padfoot! Be serious!"

"But I am Sirius!" He laughed.

James' frowned at him.

"Sorry, but I had to, it was too easy."

"Ahem, well anyway, it's about prime time for him to pay." James snarled.

"And what do you have in mind, oh genius warrior?" Peter snickered.

"I think,"

Peter leaned in.

"We should,"

Sirius looked at his best friend curiously and Remus waited for the spectacular plan.

James looked at them all then hung his head.

"Definitely come up with something good."

They all groaned.

* * *

"Lily, are you okay?" Kharis walked into the dimly lit dormitory room and sat upon her bed.

She didn't reply but laid there with her eyes on the ceiling.

"Lily?" Kharis tried again, almost in a sympathetic whisper.

Lily swallowed the tears that felt like were growing in her throat. "I just don't get it, Kharisma. He was so different when it was just me and him in Hogsmeade." Her voice was soft and full of undeniable pain.

Kharis knitted her eyebrows darkly. "I can take him out if you want, just say the word and he's a dead man."

Lily laughed a little, tears shining in her emerald pools. "No, its okay."

Her best friend lied across her bed also looking up at the ceiling. "What I don't get…is why James Potter felt the need to say all those horrible things?"

The auburn haired beauty shook her head, completely loss of any ideas. "I have not a clue. He was such a nice guy when we were together, we laughed and talked about everything and nothing was awkward. I could really see him as more than a friend, but then he had to go and ruin it with that arrogant attitude."

"Yeah, totally blew me out of the water." Kharis made a face as if the ceiling had just changed. "Well you know, I guess I never really put much thought into it, but he's always kind of had an arrogant side."

Lily looked at her friend. "What do you mean? I've never seen it before."

"Well, no I guess you wouldn't because you didn't really pay attention to him before now." She laughed causing Lily to laugh a little. "You know, he always seemed to ruffle up his hair whenever you would pass by, hoping you'd take a look. Or when he's on the Quidditch field and especially when it comes to those Slytherins."

"I just don't see why anyone would want to act like that, it's retarded." Lily positioned herself straighter on the bed. "Anyway, I don't want to talk about,_ Potter_, anymore." She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I want to tell you who has asked me to the ball…"

Kharis smiled wide. "Who?!"

Lily leaned in and whispered in her ear. Kharis leaned back in surprise.

"Him? He asked you to the ball? Wow, never would have expected that! Especially since he's from a different house and all…well that will certainly be interesting."

"I know," Lily said taking a look at her hanging dress robes for the dance the next day. "But he's a really nice guy and we are friends…"

* * *

The next day was the End of the Year Ball and almost everyone in Hogwarts couldn't wait for it to start at eight that evening. This was what the fourth through seventh year students had been waiting for since they found out that it was the last fun thing before the OWL testing came the last following week of school until summer.

James' had woken up around nine thirty that morning and saw that the rest of the Marauders were still fast asleep. Carefully making sure he was quiet as he put on his socks and shoes, he took one last look around the room before he went out to the common room. He noticed that Remus was slightly stirring in his bed and was looking a lot paler than usual.

_The full moon is on Friday night…_ he thought. That means that Remus had just enough time to finish the last OWL testing for Transfiguration on Friday before he had to head off to the Shrieking Shack then the next day it would be time for them to ride the Hogwarts Express home.

It was nice to walk around the hallways once in a while without his friends around. More peace and quiet and it allowed him to think freely without having any interruptions. He aimlessly walked and walked, not realizing where he was going.

_You had her James, you seriously had her. Why do you do that huh?_ He thought to himself, his hands in his pockets as he walked and stared at the ground. _Why do you have to open you__r__ fat mouth and try to act the big guy? I think I just need to deflate my ego a bit…maybe then I can win her back…_

Looking up before he fully rounded the corner to the next corridor, he heard furious whispering from a person to another. Peeking over he witnessed Snape having a heated whispered discussion with one of his Slytherin friends, Rodolphus Lestrange.

"He said that there were certain subjects he needed to discuss with you." Rodolphus Lestrange urged.

Snape looked as though he was examining Rodolphus. "Did he now? How interesting…"

"Stop staring at me like that, Severus." Rodolphus hissed. "Like I said, he said it was very important and that it was relevant that you and he met up as soon as possible. I guess I can say it's about-"

"Shh, you idiot!" Snape looked around as if he knew someone was near. Two second year girls had just passed by the opposite corridor of James. "Not here. You tell him that I will talk to him on my own time. Today's not the best time for me, I have other arrangements."

_Other arrangements huh, Snivillus?_ James thought, glaring heatedly at him. He saw Rodolphus and Snape exchange what looked like an understanding look and could have sworn that Rodolphus cast a glance in James' direction as he hid from him on the other side of the wall, but if he did take a look, James couldn't make sure because Rodolphus had already started walking away.

He gave till the count of twenty before walking around the corner to face Snape.

"Well hello, Snivillus." He said with a casual air in his tone.

Snape stopped walking forward and stood rooted to the spot staring at James. He didn't look scared but didn't exactly look like he was expecting James alone with him in a corridor.

They both took out their wands in defense.

"How was it to finally feel ahead of me for once, huh?" James grinned wickedly, twirling his wand in his hand. Snape's eyes followed it like a hawk. "Did it feel nice to _chalk one up on me?_"

"Quite nice, yes, and Lily seems to know the real you, Potter. Can't strut yourself around here no more, can you?" Snape's mouth curled in a satisfied way.

James glared. "_Furnunculus!"_

Snape was a second to slow and his face instantly covered itself in boils that seemed to burst after a few seconds before growing back in the same spot. "ARGH!" he growled out, rubbing his eyes in pain for some of the pus had splashed inside. "_Finite!"_ Snape yelled, pointing his wand blindly in his face. The boils vanished and all that was left was Snape's eyes blood shot from the rubbing and irritation of the pus.

James laughed out loud. "Ouch, that hurt, didn't it?" He walked around towards Snape who seemed to still be in pain in his eyes. "Are you going to the ball, Snape?"

Snape rubbed his eyes a little but mustered up the best glare he could. "None of your business Potter!"

"_Incendio!"_James cast.The bottom of Snape's robes had caught fire but instantly Snape put it out with the water spell"Oh very quick, _Snivillus_."

Snape sneered.

"_Who are you going to the ball with?_" James asked again.

"Get out of it, Potter." Snape turned around and tried walking away.

_"Petrificus Totalis!"_ James aimed his wand at Snape's back. Snape, however, seemed to be expecting this because he side stepped turning around and snarled, "_Langlock."_

James' tongue seemed to be glued to the roof of his mouth.

"What is going on here?!" Lily had just walked down the corridor and had her eyes set accusingly on James.

Well, James couldn't exactly talk and he animatedly tried to explain that to her with his hands.

With a flick of her wand, his voice seemed to come back and his tongue was able to move freely along his mouth.

"Nothing." James said innocently. He watched as Snape had escaped around the corner without a peep and Lily didn't even seem to mind.

"What's with you James Potter? Why are you attacking Severus like that, huh?"

James' hand went instantly to his hair and he ruffled it a bit from habit. "Well, you know, he's had it coming for him."

Lily glared at the impossibly cocky boy in front of her. "You know what you are, Potter?"

"Yeah, and what's that?" He challenged.

"You are a self-absorbed, insufficient show off who thinks everyone should just grovel at your wanna be high and mighty feet!"

James' eyes rounded with irritation and he opened his mouth to retort but she cut him off.

"But here's a reality check, Potter, you are neither high nor mighty, so get over yourself!"

"Evans!" He called after her, half of him desperately wanting to curse her to smithereens in anger and the other beg for forgiveness for acting like such a jerk.

"What!" She whipped around, clearly furious with him.

_I'm sorry…_ is what he wanted to come out of his mouth but instead an overconfident, "Go out with me.", exited from it.

"_Excuse me?_" Lily asked incredulously. She looked for signs on his face of joking but all that stared back at her was an idiotic boy waiting for a response. "Get off it."

James watched her walk away and he sighed in frustration. "Damn."

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

-Hokay, So. Here's the plan Stan. I need more than just two reviews or else I'm going to stop writing this story and I had some really good plans for this, you know what I mean , Jean?…plus I already have 1-6 chapters written. So either this story gets reviews or this story stops. YOUR CHOICE. Okie. That is all.

-Much love!

VVV _Times are tragic and pain is real, deceit is easy to conceal. But keep in mind, a tale is told, of two young lovers with Hearts of Gold. A power, in which no evil can embrace, runs through the veins in those they face. Two young lovers so strong and bold, bear no evil with Hearts of Gold. A thought so chilling is hard to find, but it's the next great adventure to the well organized mind. Courage so true till their very last breath, these Brave Hearts will __Never__ Fear Death. _VVV


	5. She took a leaf out of your book?

Brave Hearts Never Fear Death

It was fifteen till the ball and everyone in Gryffindor were either waiting down in the common room (which were the boys waiting impatiently for their dates) or still trying to hurriedly finish up themselves (which were mostly girls, panicking about how they looked).

The Marauders were among those in the common room waiting for their dates. Sirius was checking himself in the mirror on the wall and it was occasionally giving him helpful hints. "Not bad, not bad." He said, smiling cheekily at his reflection.

He wore robes of stormy grey and looked positively handsome. His date seemed to think so too because when she descended down the stairs of the girl's dormitories, she had a huge smile on her face. "Sirius," She squealed. "You look so great!"

Sirius gave her a flirtatious smile and embraced her in his arms. "Well thank you, Petra, and you look absolutely marvelous yourself." Petra was wearing satin dress robes of light blue.

Peter snorted. "That had to be the gayest thing I've ever heard."

"And you have to be the gayest thing I've ever seen." Sirius retorted back, earning a few laughs from Remus and James.

Peter was wearing robes of chocolate brown silk and looked better than he did most days. His date, a pretty blonde girl wearing a violent shade of pink, matched him perfectly.

"Hey, c'mon, no fighting, no fighting." Remus chuckled. He was currently wearing silk robes of charcoal that had thin pin stripes of red. His gold Prefect badge was pinned to his chest and his whitened smile broadened when he saw his date, a tall and lean curly haired brunette with light bronze skin walk to him in dress robes of lacy gold.

"Wow Remus, you and Kharis match quite well. Sort of Gryffindor colors, rock on." James laughed.

Kharisma glared at him. "Shut it James, no one asked what you thought of us."

James looked taken aback. "Um, sorry? It was a joke Kharisma, damn."

Kharis rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Remus muttered to James. "I don't think she's forgiven you about the whole Lily thing." He exchanged a look of apology with a tinge of you-should-have-listened-to me with him.

"So Kharis, who's Lily going with?" James asked. He had run into Snape four times today and no matter how many times he jinxed, cursed and outright embarrassed him, Snape wouldn't budge about the whole ball thing. He finally gave up around 7 to get ready for the ball. He was wearing robes of dark blue and tried but failed to manage his messy but undeniably gorgeous black hair.

"You'll see," Kharis grinned wickedly. "You'll just love it."

James rolled his eyes and waited for his own date to appear. Kharis' words weren't exactly comforting; actually they had him start to side with his idea that the slimy git had indeed went along and asked his beautiful Lily.

"Hi James," A small voice said behind him. Turning around, he saw his date. A girl by the name of Kadie who had dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes like him and was definitely very pretty in the pale purple robes she was wearing.

"Hi Kadie, you look nice." James said kind of peeking over her looking for the one he'd really been waiting for.

"Well is everyone ready?" Kadie asked.

_Nooo…_ James thought. But everyone else had started shuffling to the portrait door.

Upon entering the Great Hall, everyone seemed to be in awe. The air was warm and breezy and the ceiling was clear and the almost full moon shone bright. Little lights hung around the Great Hall to give the summer night effect and everything was covered in shades of blue, gold, red and green. The hall seemed to sparkle and a band was playing upon where the teachers usually ate.

The music was slightly loud and everyone seemed to be in full conversations with each other, occasionally stopping to greet more friends.

"Remus, this is great!" James exclaimed.

Remus nodded and said, "Yeah, I guess I can say that the prefects and I put on an awesome ball."

The hall started to get crowded with more people and James was searching everywhere for signs of Lily and Snape. Nott, Avery, Crabbe, Goyle and some other Slytherins that were friends with Snape seemed to be hanging out with their dates near the Slytherin table that was backed up against the wall for punch and food but no Snape.

"Where is Lily?" James muttered to himself.

"Please don't tell me you're going to talk about Lily this whole night, jeez." Kadie said with a frown on her face. James looked down at her, almost forgot that she was his date and smiled.

"No, of course not."

"Good, then let's dance." Kadie led him to the dance floor where Sirius was currently getting down and dirty with his date and they danced rhythmically to the beat.

The Marauders and Kharis danced for a good fifteen minutes when James heard Kharis squeal, "Lily! I thought you had forgotten about the dance! You're twenty minutes late missy!"

James snapped his head to the side and nearly choked. Lily was simply ravishing in her royal purple satin dress robes. Her hair was up in elegant curls and her emerald eyes seemed to sparkle and stand out from the purple of her robes.

"Wow, Lily! You look beautiful!" Kadie complimented. The two girls exchanged bright smiles.

"Thanks Kadie! So do you!"

"So who you here with?" James cut in.

Kharis and the Marauders groaned. Lily just ignored him.

James looked over her shoulder for Snape but realized that he wasn't there.

"My date is actually getting drinks right now so I decided I'd come over and talk for a bit." Lily said, particularly to Kharis and Remus.

James frowned. "Hey, who you here with?" His eyes still searching for signs of Snape.

"And," Lily talked over him. "I wanted to congratulate Remus on a job well done." She smiled and Remus smiled back.

"And to you." He replied with a nod of his head.

"Lily, I brought you something to drink." A male voice was heard.

"Oh thank you!"

James turned and wasn't sure if he felt relieved that Lily hadn't gone with Snape, or furious because it was someone he wasn't exactly on friendly terms with. A seventh year in fact, the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain who James hated, not so much as Snape and the Slytherins, but still despised.

His name was Kyler Hawkins and all the girls seemed to swoon over him because he was asked to join the Appleby Arrows professional Quidditch team. He had dark brown hair with natural chestnut highlights and sea green eyes and tan skin. He was taller than James, but James had more the athletic build while Kyler had more of the leaner build.

"James." Kyler said.

"Kyler." James replied. And they shook hands, secretly trying to squeeze the others to a pulp.

"Well Kyler and I are going to go dance, so I'll catch up with you guys later." Lily said, letting herself get lead away by her date. James watched as Kyler wrapped his arms around her and pick up a comfortable rhythm.

_Jerk._

"Hey James, why don't you try and apologize?" Sirius said, during a break with the guys. They had been dancing for over 4½ hours and James just couldn't stop staring at the red headed beauty. "Look, you're really starting to look pathetic, and I'm not sure I can be seen hanging with someone like that. Either you resolve your little problem or we can't be friends."

"Oh shut up Padfoot." James said irritably as Sirius chuckled, downing his cup of water.

"Hey Prongs, I thought you said that Snape was going with Lily?" Peter asked, helping himself to some watermelon.

James frowned at Kyler and Lily but his mind was on Snape. "Yeah, well that's what I thought. I mean it seemed pretty obvious."

"Ha ha look at Moony get down with Kharis! Poor guy, he was probably forced!" Sirius said bursting up in laughter, pointing at the embarrassed Remus who was trying to catch up with Kharis' dancing. "Haha, this is going to be serious blackmail that is!"

"I can't believe OWLs are on Monday that almost ruins this whole dance." Peter said, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Shut it Wormtail, I don't want to think about the testing next week. Jeez you ruin all the fun don't you?" Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Well soooorrrry." Peter said with a bit of sarcastic attitude.

"Hey, listen. It's like an hour till the dance ends and Snape didn't even show up. I wonder why?" James questioned curiously.

Sirius held out his hand and checked off each finger. "I can give you five good reasons he didn't show. One, he's a slimy sleaze ball. Two, he's dirty and greasy. Three, he's a Slytherin that knows he doesn't belong. As for the others that showed up here, they're just idiots. Four, he's greasy, did I already say greasy? Well whatever, he's greasy. And five, he probably didn't have a date. He's better off alone and we're better off without him here slimin' the place up."

Peter laughed but James knitted his eyebrows.

"No, there's something else."

"Pff, what else could there be?"

"Well, I overheard him talking to Lestrange about someone wanting to talk to him about important business and I can only think that if it has something to do with Snivillus then it has something to do with the dark arts." James said quietly.

"Oh come off it James, Snape is too much of a coward to join up with anything like that." Sirius said disbelievingly.

"Padfoot, you didn't hear it like I heard it, okay?" James heated up at once. If there was one thing that bugged him beyond all else was when someone second guessed his opinion on Snape.

"Yeah, yeah okay. But I still think that you just don't like Snape so you want to believe that he's really into that kind of stuff."

"But you don't like him either." Peter called on him.

Sirius looked at Peter and nodded. "True, I don't like that slimy git, but that doesn't mean I think he's getting into the dark arts like James does. I think Snape is just a grease ball and nothing more. He's too chicken to get into that kind of stuff."

James rolled his eyes. If no one was going to believe him that Snape was up to something then he wasn't going to stick around and get criticized by it. There was something definitely up with that kid and it would be him to figure it out. Who misses the end of the year ball for just a talk? No, it had to be more that just that, it had to be something that would interest Snape and what interested Snape was the dark arts.

"I'm going to try and talk to Lily." James said, walking away.

"Good plan, mate. I'll pick your pieces off the ground when she's finished with you." Sirius and Peter laughed and James gave them the finger.

James made his way around the dancing crowd, occasionally avoiding some of the girls that were quite obsessed with him, maneuvered around the Slytherins who were chatting interestedly about an older boy by the name of Lucius Malfoy who had graduated two years before and something about a task he was assigned. _That rich git probably bought his way into the ministry…_James thought nastily. He kept up his mission searching for Lily while keeping an eye out for Kadie who probably was wondering where he was right now.

"Oh Kyler, that's great, are you excited?" Lily asked.

"Yeah it's something I never thought it'd happen in a million years, I even got full scholarships and everything." Kyler said with a look in his eye that said he was proud of himself and proud that Lily Evans was complimenting him.

"Hey Kyler, I was wondering if I could steal you for a moment. Sorry my dear, it'll only take a minute. I do hope you don't mind?" Professor Slughorn asked, walking up and taking Kyler Hawkins by the arm. "I wanted to show him to a friend of mine that is associated with the Appleby Arrows. Of course, when you have time I would like to maybe have a small interview with you on your ideas of the Ministry with another friend of mine who has a connection with the head of the Department of Mysteries."

Lily nodded. "No that's fine; I'm a bit tired so I think I'll sit for a while. I don't mind really and that interview sounds nice, Professor, thank you."

"Okay, just a tidbit then." Professor Slughorn and Kyler walked off.

"Lily?" James had waited until she was alone.

Lily turned around at her name being called and when she saw that it was James, she rolled her eyes and walked in the other direction towards the food and drinks. James walked right after her.

"Lily, please wait up, let's talk."

"I'm sorry," She said casually still walking away from him. "I believe I have nothing to say to you at the moment, Potter."

James sighed but reached out and stopped her. "Lily, I'm so sorry, can't you ever forgive me?"

She glared. "Not right now I can't."

"Why not, you know what I said wasn't true. Plus they weren't even that bad but still," He thought it may be best to revise that sentence since her eyes flashed with anger. "I know I did something terrible and I promise to never do it again."

Lily glanced around the room and noticed that Kyler had escaped from Slughorn and was searching for her. Another thing was that the ball was going to be ending in less than ten minutes and she certainly didn't want to end it arguing with James.

Shaking her head she put her foot down. "I'm sorry James, but I'm just not ready to forgive you. Not only did you hurt me, but you hurt other people as well."

"Like who? I never hurt anyone!" James defended himself, trying to think of anyone he intentionally ever hurt.

Lily looked him straight in the eye and sighed. "You may not notice because of your huge ego or your outrageously high self esteem but your arrogance seems to forget about the people you think are beneath you."

"Like who? I don't think like that! I would never!" What was she getting at?

"Hmm, let's see," She said clearly irritated. "Didn't you just hex Aubrey Bertram?"

"Yeah but that prat deserved-"

"And how about the girls you flirt constantly with and then when they get an ounce of hope of being with you, you turn them down?"

"I don't do that-!"

"And what about the Slytherins,"

"Oh come on, it's just those Slytherins! You're Gryffindor blood, you should know," James growled.

"Should I?" Lily asked with a raised eyebrow. "Because I remember Gryffindors being brave and courageous not jerkish or self pompous towards those of non-Gryffindor blood, last I heard it was those Slytherins who dwelled on only pure blood and I being a, what do they call it, _mudblood_ couldn't possibly understand the importance of certain kinds of vital blood as I have none most would say."

James spluttered and stuttered. "I, that's not what I meant, you are not, no wait-"

"So James, if we're going to talk about the significance of blood and what's better and what's not, then I think it's safe to say that we are no different than those _Slytherins._"

"Wait, that came out wrong, I didn't think,"

"Of course not, you don't ever think! You only say whatever comes out of your conceited mouth. You are a lot of talk, Mr. Potter, and no show." Lily crossed her arms.

James looked at her not sure of what to say. But she took over for him.

"And what is it with Severus Snape, huh? Why do you feel like you have to curse him every time you see him? Do you like when you attract a crowd full of stupid idiots who get a crack out of cruel embarrassment?"

James frowned. "Of course not, but Snape gets what's coming for him."

Lily rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Severus deserves nothing more than you do. He doesn't deserve the harsh treatment you and the other _Marauders_ give him and he absolutely doesn't deserve the kind of shy personality he has to stand by and let you torture him. And you don't deserve the wide attraction as you so ungratefully take and you _definitely_ don't deserve the chance to talk with me again."

James was furious.

"Maybe I'll take a leaf out of your book, Potter, and I'll take the overconfident high road and belittle you to me. Goodnight." Lily gave him one last glare and walked away towards Kyler who led her out of the Great Doors as the dance had ended.

* * *

It was a lightly dimmed room covered in medals and certificates of honor from the Ministry of Magic for things like 'Admirable Donation to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries' or 'Honorable bequest to the School Board Governors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry' and even 'Worthy contributions to the Ministry of Magic.'

A boy of sixteen who had black hair that was slightly greasy and was very pasty was sitting before a man who looked no older than twenty years old that had white-blonde hair with prominent blue eyes and had a pale complexion.

None said anything but rather looked at each other for a few minutes.

"Tea?" The blonde haired man finally asked.

"No," The boy said clearly then a little quietly finished, "Thank you."

"Biscuit?"

The boy merely shook his head; his eyes glanced back and forth between the room around him and the man sitting before him.

"Never mind, Dobby, leave." The man ordered a scared and raggedly looking house-elf. It went scampering out of the room in haste, not to anger his master. "Well, Severus, since you don't want anything refreshing, I shall get down to business then."

Snape nodded.

"The Dark Lord has appointed me the honorable duty of finding someone worthy of rounding him up supporters, as you may know we are called Death Eaters, and I have had very select candidates and among the few is you."

Snape's eyes rounded, from fear or greed, the man could not tell for he wasn't paying attention to the look on Snape's face. He continued talking as if the matter were great news that needed to be finished.

"And so I have come to realize that since you have exceeded in potions and dark arts, and I am right to presume Lestrange was correct when he said that you have already accomplished Occlumency and Legimency," He saw Snape cast a quick glance at him. "That maybe perhaps you are the accurate choice for the Dark Lord's undertaking."

"And what does he exactly need from me, Lucius?" Snape asked in a hushed voice.

Lucius Malfoy cackled softly. "He needs you of course to be a spy. He wants you to keep an eye on Dumbledore for him all while rounding up any one with the ability to perform well as a Death Eater. We need more support than just a few men. Anyone who seems weak and needs help, you snatch them up promising greater and better things will come of them if they join. But make sure it's all hush hush and make sure not to let anyone who might ruin us find out about our doings. Or else you'll _pay dearly for it._"

"And if I don't oblige? What if I decline right now?" Snape asked with no hint of actually doing it, but a mere curiosity.

"Well then, I'd have to kill you, right now." Malfoy said moving his hand to rest on his pocket where his wand resided. Snape looked at Malfoy with no fear nor with any pride for being asked such a daring and responsible role from the darkest wizard of the time, he merely just stared.

"Another thing, I have heard from certain resources that you are quite friendly with someone the Dark Lord wouldn't approve of. A mudblood as I so disgracefully admit."

Snape continued to stare at Malfoy with a bored expression. Malfoy took it as a sign of truth so he continued his warning. "The Dark Lord tolerates no such beings and will never tolerate those who stoop to the lowest level of acknowledging them as equals. I would reconsider where your loyalties and friendships lie if you value your life."

Snape's head was down and he was twisting his hands in his lap. "I understand, but you have to know this and so does the Dark Lord, she is smart."

Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "Do you care for this woman who is dirt veined?"

"No." Snape said instantly, but he didn't look up to face Malfoy with confidence. "I mean, she may be that of disgraceful blood but she is not like them, she's different."

"As I said, the Dark Lord does not tolerate such dirtied beings; his plan is to rid the wizarding world of such."

Snape flashed his eyes upon Malfoy. "She has valuable traits, she is intelligent and I believe that she could help the Dark Lord as a spy also as everyone seems to love her."

Malfoy sighed. "It isn't wise to bother the Dark Lord with such nonsense. No mudblood alive is worth anything. Like I said, if you value your life," he looked at Snape's young face; it was still kind of innocent. "And perhaps hers, I'd no longer continue your friendship. Your task is to round up as many supporters as possible and keep watch over Dumbledore. If you succeed you will have a place with us as a Death Eater and you will achieve greatness and beyond."

Snape continued to look at the man before him before sighing of complete exhaustion.

"So, does the Dark Lord have a faithful servant out of you, Severus Tobias Snape?" Malfoy asked, getting up from his seat. Snape got up as well and draped his cloak over himself.

"But of course."

VVVVVVVVVVVVV

-Well a very intelligent reviewer told me that I should update my story for myself and not to worry about reviews…well you're right…kinda. I like reviews because they make me feel like people enjoy the story. I enjoy the story, but that's not quite enough because I do write the story also for the reviews…people who like to read them. I've had like almost 400 hits to the story and only 6 reviews. I know it can get better.

-anyway, that's okay cause I'm still going to continue the story…I just want more reviews. If you LIKE the story….just review…that's all I'm asking. It puts a smile on my face.

VVV _Times are tragic and pain is real, deceit is easy to conceal. But keep in mind, a tale is told, of two young lovers with Hearts of Gold. A power, in which no evil can embrace, runs through the veins in those they face. Two young lovers so strong and bold, bear no evil with Hearts of Gold. A thought so chilling is hard to find, but it's the next great adventure to the well organized mind. Courage so true till their very last breath, these Brave Hearts will Never Fear Death. _VVV


End file.
